Okay, its time to vent!

Hello all, I have a few things to get off my chest and if there is anything relavent in the enclosed please feel free to digress. First, it is now March 5th and I still haven't gotten anything from 4 out of the 6 schools I have applied to. I applied to three of these schools in November, but my complete undergrad transcripts were not finalized until Jan 18th or so. Does the admission silence for so long help or hurt me at this point? Are they waiting for all the late appliers/feb lsat takers? Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to what "rolling basis" REALLY means, or even why some schools (in my case the lower tiers) have an absurdly long application timeline if any at all? Also, why the inconsistency with some schools? For instance a few of my schools have been diligent about confirming the completion of my app, whereas others haven't sent anything. A few of the schools have even sent me financial aid apps...Does this essentially mean I will be getting a spot, even though they explicitly state that the two are seperate? I know that there is other people trolling this board that are in a similar boat that I'm in, and that not all of us have the great gpa and lsat which alleviates some of the stress!

Hehe, well aside from just being March 5th, it's also my birthday...which, at this time, is almost over.

>>I applied to three of these schools in November, but my complete undergrad transcripts were not finalized until Jan 18th or so. Does the admission silence for so long help or hurt me at this point?<<

Well, in my opinion...considering the fact that you applied in November but only really had app complete status around around the 18th of January...I don't think the silence is "long." I think it's normal, in your case. The fact that your application wasn't complete until then is as good as your having waited until the mid-end of January to apply to these schools because they probably didn't even look at your app until after they got that transcript. With applying after the holidays being considered "late" by many schools' standards...I'd say it depends on the school whether or not it helps you or hurts you that you haven't heard anything.

>>Perhaps someone can enlighten me as to what "rolling basis" REALLY means<<

Rolling admissions means the schools look at and usually accept/make decisions on students as they receive applications from this, if their file is complete. This is why applying and having your application COMPLETE early is helpful...after the holidays, it's much harder to have any kind of advantage in getting in because many schools have accepted almost half the students they're going to accept by then. So if everything had been completely done for you in November...you would have been much better off at schools with rolling admissions and probably would have heard from most or all your schools by now.

>>Are they waiting for all the late appliers/feb lsat takers?<<

I don't know what schools do this, but I'd say probably not. I always hear that you don't need to take the LSAT later than December, so Feb takers usually have to wait until the coming fall of that year to apply. Plus, I can't see law schools waiting for anybody...especially at a school with rolling admissions. They will accept as many people as they can off the bat, and later applicants...well, sorry for them. Some schools also hold certain decisions, or maybe even all decisions they make, until a certain date and then start sending them out.

>>or even why some schools (in my case the lower tiers) have an absurdly long application timeline if any at all?<<

Hmmm...okay, you applied to lower tiers, so it's possible that some of them DO wait for Feb LSAT takers and that it might be good that you haven't heard yet, if they have a long timeline. Who knows. I would think it takes them so much longer because they probably get more applicants. I read something the other day that the majority (I, think, 70%) of people who take the LSAT score between 140 and 160...those people might throw in some apps to higher-tier schools, but they are also all going to be applying to some lower-tier schools. So those lower-tier schools probably have to spend a lot of time on these apps and making decisions, especially schools that don't have rolling admissions (those schools will wait until the deadline to start looking at apps, which I feel doesn't save time for them like doing rolling admissions does).

>>Also, why the inconsistency with some schools? For instance a few of my schools have been diligent about confirming the completion of my app, whereas others haven't sent anything<<

Maybe as you have now come to understand, the inconsistencies are probably because of the different ways the schools go about their admissions processes.

>>A few of the schools have even sent me financial aid apps...Does this essentially mean I will be getting a spot, even though they explicitly state that the two are seperate?<<

I don't think this can be assumed, but who knows.

>>I know that there is other people trolling this board that are in a similar boat that I'm in, and that not all of us have the great gpa and lsat which alleviates some of the stress!<<

I think everyone's stressed and not 100% (or even 90%) confident about their chances...particularly those with the great stats. For one thing, I often see people with, like, a 4.0 and a 177 on the LSATs wanting to know what their chances at HYCCN are. I think the higher the schools are you want to get into, the more you worry because they are so much weirder about who they accept and who they turn down. Plus, people usually want to go to these schools very badly and get their hearts set on a top school. With lower-tier schools, it pretty much seems like that if you have the numbers and don't screw up the rest of the application, then you're basically okay and everyone will be shocked if you don't get in...which is not necessarily the case with those who have higher numbers and apply to top schools.

Thanks for the info dsds. You've essentially covered all the questions I had and then some! I guess most of the questions I had have probably come up before, but like I said I simply needed some kind of forum to vent a little. Also, you said that because my application wasn't complete until mid january that it wasn't probably even looked at until then, but is that the case even if everything was complete on my initial app in november except for few classes that I was wrapping up for graduation (6 credit hours)? Thanks again for the clarification.

Logged

bobfett33

Hey, I think most of us are in the same boat - most of my apps went complete in January, and for each school to which I applied, I've been waiting anywhere from 1-2 months. I applied to 7, and I've only had one acceptance (33 days after complete at USD) and one ding (about 30 days after complete at Berkeley).

However, try to remember that there are some people who have been complete at schools for 4 1/2 months! Imagine how they must feel!

i think its a big conspiracy. i think they want us all to wait and wait and bite our nails and get terrible ulcers, so we have to go to the doctors, so our insurance companies can raise our rates and get more money, and then the insurance company will donate more money to the law schools.

hey, I'm in the same boat. I have heard back from eight schools (three rejections, three acceptances, two waitlists) but I haven't heard back from eight other schools. My numbers are 2.9/160, six of the schools I'm waiting for I sent my apps in January so I'm not sure when I will hear back. The schools I'm confused about are William and Mary and Washington and Lee. I know they are huge reach schools for me so I applied in early december to these schools and I haven't heard back from them at all. They both told me my apps were complete in the beginning of January so I have been waiting two plus months without any notification. Any info on these schools would be great. thanks.

I went complete to 7 schools by 12/15, ED at 2.When the EDs went 1 ding 1 deferral I freaked.Sent out 3 more apps-- Complete 2/5 or so.By 3/5 I've heard from all those 'freak out' apps and have been accepted. However I have only heard from 1 additional school from the original 7-- ding.

Maybe its time to apply to a couple of extra safeties?

BTW-W&L W&M - these are two school notorious for sending fee waivers to marginal applicants who often have very little chance of getting admitted-- but these students bump up their stats on the US news ranking.-- So don't count on them.

Mind me asking where else you applied that you're still waiting on?

I'm still waiting at SMU, Baylor, Tulane (and the two W schools) and my numbers are very similar-- 2.95/164 UG at UT-Austin.

In addition to the ones above that I'm still waiting on. I was dinged at UT and UHouston(ED). I've been accepted at Texas Tech($) U of Arkansas (both) ($) and South Texas CL (possible $). The two "W" schools are W&M W&L -- the two USNEWS whores.